Sarpaneva Korona Moonshine Watch

Helsinki, Finland. Not the typical place for watch makers, but it is where the wild Stepan Sarpaneva calls home and creates his vividly interesting timepieces creations. Playing with his popular moon face, Stepan creates a new watch that utterly features the now popularized serious looking artful lunar gaze. Called the Korona Moonshine, the watch tells the time via a single rotating disc that moves around the periphery of the dial.

You read the time in the lower region of the dial where a window opens up to reveal the moving disc. Right at the 6 o'clock position is a small arrow that is used in conjunction with indicators on the disc to tell the time. It isn't the most precise way to tell the time, but the trade-off might be worth it to have this "face" on your wrist.

The time telling disc itself is covered in lume for night viewing. I think this is where the "shine" in moonshine comes in. It can be interpreted that the moon above the little window metaphorically provides the shine. Well, half of the disc is lumed. It is a 24 hour disc set up in four quadrants. Two of them contain lume. There are also stars on the disc. Why? because much of the time when a moon is placed on a watch dial, it is a accompanied by a few stars.

Sarpaneva's "Korona" case is still sexy after a few years and various iterations of the watch. Stepan's design for the Korona case is quite good, offering visual interest and necessary symmetry. There is a shot here of a prototype of the watch on Stepan Sarpaneva's own wrist. You can see how well the Korona style case fits with the Moonshine concept.

This is a rebel watch in a world of Swiss and French domination - though it does have the polished design that the larger high-end watch industry is known to value. There will be three versions of the watch. Two in steel, with one of those being DLC coated in black. There will also be an 18k red gold model available. The case itself is 42mm thick, with an AR coated sapphire crystal and water resistant to 50 meters.

Inside the watch is a modified Soprod A-10 automatic movement that Stepan likes to use. You can see the movement through a skeletonized case back. Really a fantastic piece with a lot of hand-built character. You'll be impressed by Sarpaneva's larger offerings if you are new to the brand. Will the Korona Moonshine be your first Sarpaneva? Not likely. You are more likely to go with another Korona model where you can get the same moon face (smaller) on a slightly more traditional looking watch. Though for those are are very "sold" on the Sarpaneva concept, then a piece like this is a sure winner. It has a design with the requisite attention for details that Sarpaneva has been known for, as well as a craziness and attention grabbing spirit that its owners are often looking for.

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Fueled by an unshakable love for horology and a general curiosity for intricate things, Ariel Adams founded aBlogtoWatch in 2007 as a means of sharing his passion. Since then, ABTW has become the highest trafficked blog on luxury timepieces, and Ariel has become a contributor to other online publications such as Forbes, Departures and Tech Crunch, to name just a few. His conversational writing style and inclusive attitude brings a wider appreciation for watches the world over, and that's just the way he likes it.
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While I wouldn’t ever see myself owning this, it’s not to say that I don’t appreciate the directions it is moving in. It’s very well done, looks nicely refined. And I love that crown.

Time telling being secondary is not something I look for, this is more an odd piece of jewelery that also has a time function.

Dangeruss

Must be your week for polarizing watches. Can’t see owning this emoticon bracelet.

http://ablogtowatch.com admin

Maybe you are right Russ! You really need to like the moon face style before all else. I am just intrigued by it.

Ed

It’s different and creative, which I generally like, but I think it would just be too weird to have that face staring back at me. After the initial novelty wore off, I’d want to hide it under a sleeve, or put it on a shelf, so its creepy moon eyes wouldn’t be following me around all day . . .

pat i.

Maybe we should return it to the Aztec burial site lest we anger the Gods.

pat i.

This watch brings me back to my childhood -and the evil clown who lived in my closet.

Acually I really like the other watches by Sarpaneva. This is simply too much of a good thing.

Wow, after reading all those comments I feel a little scared to say that I really like the look of the watch! The case is spectacular and I for one enjoy the moon face staring back at you. Great conversation piece!

I’m not 100% certain, but I think I recall reading on WatchProSite that this was just a one-off prototype that Stepan Sarpaneva made for himself, but then one of WPS people saw it and asked him to make it for him too. So there’s a niche demand for it.